Tour Championship field now set, without Jordan Spieth

After a waterlogged BMW Championship won in a playoff by Keegan Bradley, the FedEx Cup playoffs have reached their final event. Thirty players, led by two-time playoff winner Bryson DeChambeau, will head to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga. next week with the aim of capturing the FedEx Cup and its $10 million prize.

Dechambeau, Justin Rose, Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas will head to Atlanta with the ability to win the FedEx Cup outright. Rounding out the top 10 are Keegan Bradley, U.S. Open and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, Billy Horschel, and Cameron Smith.

One player who won’t be at East Lake: Jordan Spieth, who fell from 27th position going into the BMW Championship to 31st place. That put him in violation of a new PGA Tour rule designed to route big-name players to smaller events. Players are required to play in 25 events in a season or risk a fine; Spieth played in 24 events and was clearly banking on making East Lake his 25th.

Spieth would be the first player to violate the rule in its two years of existence. He is subject to a three-tournament suspension and a “major fine” of $20,000 or more. And it sounds like he’s ready to take his punishment:

Jordan Spieth after his round said he’s aware of his scheduling situation and he’ll accept whatever fine comes his way.

What lies ahead at the Tour Championship

The top five players heading into next week’s tournament at East Lake will have the opportunity to win the FedEx Cup outright by winning the Tour Championship. Everyone else will need help from the leaders. While the lowest-ranked players could still win, they would basically need DeChambeau and the rest of the leaders to go to the wrong course.

This will apparently mark the last year under the current FedEx Cup format. Starting in 2019, according to several outlets, the playoffs will go from four events to three, and the winner of the second event — the BMW Championship — will start the Tour Championship at 10 under par, with every other player in the 30-man field staggered downward from there. Prize money will also reportedly jump from $10 million to $15 million. ____Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.